Is Marijuana Really A Bad Thing?

One of the most popular arguments for the use of marijuana is that it's natural, God created it , so it must be okay to use it. It is true that God created the Indian hemp plant where man gets the marijuana leaves and the cannabis, for that matter He created the coca plant where man produces cocaine and even chewing the coca leaves produces stimulation, God created the poppy where man gets opium, and from that morphine and heroin. Genesis 1:11, 12 "And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good."

The first answer is that in and of itself no plant is evil, and as a matter of fact the scripture says like in every other aspect of God's creation, God pronounced that the plantlife was "good". In other words, in its original creation everything was exactly as God designed and so the plantlife was "good". But, just because something is not in and of itself evil does not mean that man cannot use it for evil purposes. God created food, yet man can become a glutton and thereby use something that in itself is not evil for evil purposes. God created sex, and in the context of marriage it is an honorable and holy thing. Hebs. 13:4 "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." But, as the text says, sex can be perverted into a unholy thing like in the case of adultery. So, quite frankly, the argument that marijuana is a naturally occuring plant that God created, so it must be okay to dry its leaves and smoke them doesn't wash. The reason for this is the purpose for which people use it. People use marijuana for the purpose of getting "high" or intoxicated, which is clearly condemned in scripture.

In Galatians 5:19-21 there are two terms used that are related to this subject, the text is describing the works of the flesh, and names both drunkeness and witchcraft as works of the flesh. Drunkeness of course means intoxication, witchcraft is the Greek word "pharmakeia" and it is where we get the English word pharmacy. According to Thayer's Greek Definitions this word means "the use or the administering of drugs", of course this is used in connection with the dark arts, nontheless it is listed as a work of the flesh.

When this subject is brought up the question is always asked about the medicinal use of marijuana. Simply put medical science has taken all the beneficial elements of marijuana and put them into pill form, therefore a person now has access to the benefits without the high. It's amazing how when this alternative is mentioned suddenly the proponents of medicinal marijuana become less than enthusiastic indicating their motivation for supporting this movement.

In conclusion, as believers in Christ who seek to honor God with our bodies, we should never seek to be intoxicated. Yes, we may have illnesses or surgeries that require us to have to take mood or mind altering drugs (i.e. morphine), but we should never be people who seek or desire to get intoxicated. And just because something was created by God does not mean that God intended for us to use it for evil purposes.